Bloom-Carroll quarterback Kelly Milliser looks for an open receiver on Friday against Amanda-Clearcreek. / Ty Wright/For the Eagle-Gazette

Amanda-Clearcreek's Maurice Ayers carries the ball down field against Bloom-Carroll on Friday night. / Ty Wright/For the Eagle-Gazette

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Bloom-Carroll 35

Amanda-Clearcreek 17

FinalFor more photos from the game, go to LancasterEagleGazette.com.

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AMANDA — A pair of teams going in opposite directions — in terms of winning and losing streaks — did exactly what they wanted to do Friday night.

Amanda-Clearcreek, which had won back-to-back games, had long, sustained drives — especially in the first half. However, the Aces weren’t able to turn them into the necessary points.

After starting the season 4-0, Bloom-Carroll was on a three-game losing streak. The Bulldogs knew if they had any hope of reaching the postseason, they needed to turn things around.

The Bulldogs did that — and more — in righting the ship Friday with a 35-17 Mid-State League-Cardinal Division victory against the Aces.

Bloom-Carroll’s defense, which struggled during its losing streak, had its moments against the Aces. However, it came through when it counted, including forcing two second-half turnovers that led to 14 points.

“Without a doubt, we knew our goals were still in front of us. But we knew we had to focus on this game or the next two weeks wouldn’t matter,” Bloom-Carroll coach Phil Mauro said.

Leading 14-3 at halftime, the Bulldogs (5-2, 2-3) blew the game open by scoring three touchdowns in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 21-3 after the Aces (3-5, 2-3) fumbled. It took Bloom-Carroll six plays to score when quarterback Kelly Milliser hit Tyler Ball with a 15-yard TD pass.

The Aces responded with a 12-play, 80-yard drive that was capped off by Jordan Leasure’s 5-yard TD run with 2:15 left in the third, cutting the Aces’ deficit to 21-10.

When the Bulldogs got the ball back, it only took them two plays to score. Jarrett Peters had a 61-yard run, and then scored on a 3-yard run.

After an interception by Bobby Fratturo, who returned it to the Aces’ 3-yard line, Milliser scored from 1 yard out to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 35-10 with 31 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Aces then put together an impressive 81-yard drive, which Dusty Riffle capped off with a 4-yard TD run with 7:06 left. That would be the final score of the game.

“We knew we still had the capability to score points, but we kept putting ourselves in a bad situation the last three games,” Mauro said. “Our focus (Friday night) was to take care of the ball at all costs.”

Bloom-Carroll’s defense came up big late in the second quarter. The Bulldogs made the Aces turn over the ball on downs twice, at Bloom-Carroll’s 39- and 30-yard lines.

The Bulldogs quickly moved the ball into the Aces’ territory when Milliser hit Tyler Sorg with a 25-yard pass.

It looked as if the Bulldogs were going to play for a field goal after they ran the ball three straight times — one a 16-yard gain by Peters. However, on third-and-7, Milliser found a wide-open Ball for a 27-yard TD pass with 41 seconds left in the first half.

Amanda-Clearcreek got on the board first with an impressive 12-play, 85-yard drive that took 5:37 off the clock. The Aces ran the ball on every down, but the drive stalled at the 12-yard line. Sophomore Christian Meadows then connected on a 29-yard field with 3:28 left in the first quarter.

The Aces kept the Bulldogs’ offense in check the first two times it had the ball. However, Peters capped a nine-play, 62-yard drive when he scored from 2 yards out with 3:05 left in the half, giving Bloom-Carroll a 7-3 lead.